Let Your Light Shine

Matthew 5:14

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Two hours away from my parents, surrounded by a countless number of strangers, and stranded in an unfamiliar city with no means of transportation can make a freshman in college feel mighty small. It was here though, over the course of four years, that I learned what it meant to be a man of God. It was here that the Lord began to use the common things of my very ordinary life to teach me the mighty truths of His immeasurable wisdom. I’ll never forget one specific truth the Lord showed me on one particularly lonely night.

I was sitting on the seawall between the Inter Coastal Water Way and Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach, FL. It was sometime after midnight, but before 4:00 in the morning. I know this because I was on duty as a parking lot attendant for our Campus Security Department. The hours were rough on my body but the uninterrupted time with God was extremely soothing to my soul. If you’ve ever walked along the water at night, you will notice something that I found to be quite amazing. I’m not sure how the science of lighting and reflection works, but I know that no matter where you go, no matter how far you walk, regardless of how high or low you can get, the reflections in the water come directly at you. It’s true; from across the Inter Costal I could see the smallest of lights reflecting lines across the water directly to me. There were several lights creating a series of reflections, all with differing angles depending on their location in relation to me.

Sitting there in the dark, the Lord brought to my attention these lights and the impact they had on me. Although I was several hundred yards away from them, and though a great chasm of water separated us, each one of these lights had a reflection that led directly to me. No matter where I went, regardless of the amount of light actually surrounding me, even the smallest of these lights created a beam that took the straightest avenue from it’s point of origin to me. “You are the light of the world.”

“What Lord?” I didn’t understand what He was speaking to me at first. To be honest with you, it took several years to understand the full impact of God’s revelation to me that night. Now though, I understand that I am a light in a darkened world. We, who are called by Christ, as sons and daughters of God, act as glimpses of light in a darkened and fallen world. Our light, however, is not of our own creation. We are but a reflection of the true Light. Christ, is our light. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4).

As you do the things you do today, remember that you are a light to a darkened world. Remember that your reflection of God, like the reflections on the Inter Costal, is a constant reminder to those that have not yet experienced peace with God. No matter where they are in their understanding of God, regardless of how dark and dismal their life may be, they continually observe you as a light in their darkness. John 1:5 further explains, “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” It is my job… it is our job to explain the light to our family, our friends, and our neighbors.